OWN CORRESPONDENT, Durban | Wednesday 5.45pm.
THE South African cricket squad gathered in Durban on Wednesday to prepare for their upcoming three-nation tour, as their sacked captain was being grilled at the King Commission inquiry into corruption in Cape Town.
The squad, now captained by Shaun Pollock, leave next Friday to travel to Sri Lanka, Australia and Singapore.
“It is going to be an extremely tough two months from a cricket playing point of view,” said coach Graham Ford.
“And probably one that will be all the more intense, mentally and physically, for each individual member of the squad in the light of Hansie Cronje’s revelations.”
Cronje was sacked in April after revealing he had accepted money from bookmakers.
The South African squad will attend an intensive three-day cricket camp from Monday aimed at getting their minds off the match-fixing scandal and onto the tour.
“The three-day get together will go a long way towards alleviating the negative vibes and towards restoring our faith in our ability to play good match-winning cricket,” said Ford.
“Our aim is to get the players back in focus. We need to concentrate all our efforts on cricket matters and to erase the distractions of recent weeks.”
Cronje was cross-examined by the King Commission in Cape Town Wednesday, after delivering a statement last week in which he admitted to receiving money from alleged bookmakers at least four times.
An emotional Cronje, described by his psychiatrist as clinically depressed, admitted to the inquiry that he was greedy but said that he had always played to the best of his ability.
The South African team will play three Tests in Sri Lanka and take part in a triangular series with Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
They will then travel to Australia for the second half of the six-match one-day international series. The Proteas lead 2-1 after the South African leg.
Finally they will take part in another triangular series in Singapore with New Zealand and Pakistan. — AFP